Performance Strategies: Don't turn "Self-Help" into "Shelf-Help"!

How may times have you bought a self-help book or program, reviewed it, digested it, attempted to apply it, just to put it on the shelf never to be used again? I call that turning self-help into shelf-help and too may of us have done it all too often.

Oh yes, I am one of the guilty parties. I have so many self-help books, CDs, casette tapes, DVDs, workbooks and the like I could fill the entire personal development section of your favorite bookstore. Some I've never even opened! Many of the ones I have, I never finished. Of those I finished, all too many of the valuable teachings remain unapplied...

Ahhhhh. but to take responsibility for that lack of action and to be accountable to yourself for it is actually enlightening. OK then, now what? Well, the answer is not in those self-help programs, it is in the "self", itself! In other words, assuming you are getting good content, it is you who must ACT! The "book" does nothing.

The simple solution? You need outside help!

I am sure you want success. I am equally certain you are willing to do what it takes to have it. BUT, the issue is following a plan with sustained and correct action. Most of us find it hard to ask for help or to seek it out.

Go out and get yourself a mentor, a coach and a personal assistant. Notice I did not say one or the other. I said...one of each. Oh, and please don't post a reply that you can't afford it. What you can't afford is that attitude. Either make excuses or make it happen. Choose!

Performance Strategies: Unquestioned love...

Performance Strategies: Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield

Performance Strategies: Absolute Abundance

Prosperity is real. It emanates from a source. Scarcity is illusion. It emanates from imagination. The subconscious mind manifests both as a result of conscious action. Conscious action emanates from belief. Conscious inaction emanates from fear. Focus on faith and you get abundance. Focus on fear and you get scarcity. Faith erases fear...and vice-versa. Either way, it's a choice.

Your limitations are just that...yours! No one has imposed them upon you...except you.

Notice each time you utter or think of a self-limiting or self-defeating thought. Step back, take ownership, and take corrective action just as you would if you did something in error in your "normal", physical day. For example, if you made a mistake writing a letter, you would notice it, accept that you made the mistake, think little of it, and yet you would effortlessly correct it. Simple! Noticing your mind working in the same way creates abundance.

You must know yourself to dwell in abundance. Ignorance is poverty-mindedness.

Performance Strategies: The Horse Knows The Way...

When I was a young boy I would go horseback riding with my father. One day I remember asking "what if we get lost?". "No problem" he said, "just loosen the reins a little, squeeze your legs (English saddle), and the horse will take you home (back to the stable). The horse always knows the way". "What about in the dark?" I asked. "No matter, the horse knows the way".

Years passed, I gave up riding for along time, then took it up again. I rode with a friend who was very experienced. I got comfortable and one day, with no riding partner, I went out on my own. Well, you guessed it. I got lost. I was so focused on the beautiful scenery that I forgot to take my bearings. Then it started to get dark, quickly. Soon there was little light and I was getting more nervous by the minute. Anxiety got the best of me and I froze. I had no idea what to do. Then it hit me. Loosen the reins and the horse will take me home. So I did. To my amazement, the horse did just that...and fast. It's like he could see in the dark.

This story is a metaphor for the times we get lost in our lives. Either personally or professionally. All we need is a good horse. In other words, we must have something we can trust in times of stress. A mentor comes to mind. Someone who has our best interest at heart and who is an expert in the areas that we are not. In this way we need not trust ourselves, we just trust them, the horse. Why? Because they always know the way home!

Performance Strategies: Beyond Goalsetting

Know what you want, write it down, look at it every day, affirm to yourself you can achieve it, and voila! ...you fall flat on your face.

Goalsetting is no different than any other success-driven activity. It requires a clear roadmap and the diligent effort to make things happen.

Consider this roadmapping strategy from my forthcoming book The Drive To Achieve the next time your setting yourself up for failure (oh, I meant success):

Decide WHAT you want!
- Oddly enough many people just say "I want a better life".
- Be specific
- Ensure you can measure it so you know when you've got it

Determine or Develop your WHY! (excerpt from the forthcoming book: The WHY Factor: Living Life On Purpose)
- You need a reason to success, something that will drive you when faced with obstacles
- Make sure your desire is unshakable
- If it doesn't excite you, drop it

Determine the WHEN of everything!
- Establish the date the main goal is to be achieved
- Create a timeline of sub-goals, related actions and people responsible

Figure out WHO will help you and WHO will hurt you!
- you will need people to teach and train you (mentors, coaches, trainers...)
- You will need people to support you throughout your journey
- You will also have people who will knock you. Identify them in advance and be aware.
- You will need people to help you achieve your success

WHICH resources will you need
- training programs (books, CDs, DVDs, seminars, workshops, teleseminars, webinars...)
- tools for the trade
- what else will you need?

Performance Strategies: Be different...

You are exactly where you should be today based on every decision and action (or inaction) you've taken. If you are not absolutely thrilled with what you have got so far, you've got to stop doing what you're doing and dare to be different. It's time to be "abnormal" and "unreasonable". Why? Simply because the normal and reasonable people are by far unhappiest. "Normal" people work for money. They don't attract it. "Normal" people worry about what others think rather than trust their own ideas. Normal is the average. Why be average when you can be incredible.